


Follow You Into the Dark

by DracoIsLife



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Auror Hermione Granger, Character Death, F/M, HP UnHappily Ever After Fest 2020, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, Obsession, Post-War, Prompt Fic, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DracoIsLife/pseuds/DracoIsLife
Summary: Years after the war, Hermione is still obsessively trying to capture the only Death Eater not in Azkaban. As faith would have it, she isn’t the only one who is obsessed.My entry to the Unhappily Ever After fest 2020. Prompt: Forcing your intense love on someone can burden them or hurt them.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Kudos: 5
Collections: HP UnHappily Ever After Fest 2020





	Follow You Into the Dark

It was a Friday night and Hermione was sitting on her couch, glass of wine in hand, thinking about how far down the rabbit hole she had gone with this case. Her friends had given up years ago on trying to get her to actually leave her house on a Friday, or any day for that matter. _I’m so close_ , she would tell them. _Robards will never promote me to senior auror if I don’t finish this assignment._ She didn’t know how many of her excuses even she still believed. 

The assignment had sounded fairly straight-forward at the time - round-up all the remaining Death Eaters and throw them into Azkaban. They had a large team in the beginning, including Harry and Ron who were just as eager to capture the fleeing Death Eaters as she was. Without a leader and a cause to rally behind, the Death Eaters had turned on each other fairly easily. They had caught most of them within the first year. 

The team had long disbanded - Harry and Ron had moved on to do what they did best, fight dark wizards, on assignments all over the world. She had stayed behind and taken on local projects, reluctant to stray too far from her original assignment. Hermione could admit now that she was rather obsessed with this case, always had been. Though as she sat and pondered on it, she couldn’t really grasp why.

It was five years after the war now. Every Death Eater had been rounded up and thrown into Azkaban. Except for one. Hermione, now lead Auror for the DMLE, was the only person still looking for him. They had tried to convince her to drop it, saying that his living in exile, without his family, was punishment enough. Narcissa had been killed shortly following the battle of Hogwarts by people on her own side for her betrayal of the Dark Lord. Lucius was in Azkaban with a life sentence, good as dead. 

In order to stay on the “case,” Hermione had taken on every other assignment she could get her hands on, locally of course, and she voluntarily did all the paperwork too. On the bright side, she had been promoted to lead auror in record time. On the other hand, she had no life. Which brought her back to this Friday night - alone in her small apartment in muggle London, with just her cat for company. 

She was broken out of her reverie when an owl tapped on her window. This wouldn’t be a big deal, except, all her friends usually floo-called her and all work related owls were directed to her office. She couldn't remember the last time she received an owl directly to her home. She hesitated, but when it tapped again she went to the window and opened it only slightly, just enough for the owl to poke its foot inside. Years of chasing down dark wizards had made her highly suspicious of anything unexpected. The owl seemed to get the hint.

She untied a small piece of paper wrapped around its foot. Curiosity got the best of her and she quickly unfolded it to look at the contents. In hindsight, she should’ve probably ran a spell to check for curses. But you know what they say about hindsight. The note was short, a single sentence in the center of the small piece of paper: 

_You’ll be able to stop chasing after me soon, love._

A shiver ran down her spine. Her head shot up, eyes wide, but the owl had already flown away. It wouldn't have mattered. It was one of those generic, inconspicuous brown owls one finds at every owl post. The kind one chooses with the exact intent of going unnoticed. She should’ve known. But again, hindsight is 20/20.

She cursed under her breath. She knew who the note was from - of course she did. Even if she hadn’t recognized the neat scrawl she had seen in several pieces of evidence collected during the years, she would’ve still known. After all she had only chased after one person for the past several years. Draco fucking Malfoy.

She wasn’t surprised really that he had gotten in contact with her. She had been counting on it much sooner actually, for so long that she stopped expecting it. It only made sense that he would try to rattle her, try to get in her head and get her to finally drop the case. _Well, good luck with that_ , she thought. _Must really not know who he’s dealing with._

_-_

It was the fifth note that month and Hermione held it with shaking fingers. They were always sent to her home, not to the office. Again, that wouldn’t have been a concern, except for she had warded her home after she received the first owl, and still she got them. It was never the same owl, and tracking the owls had led her nowhere as they always ended up being from post offices in different cities. She couldn’t deny she was getting nervous. Neither could she deny that he was getting closer.

_I couldn’t take you with me when I left all those years ago, they wouldn’t have let you go so easily. But now, I’m coming back for you, and I’ll never leave you again._

Hermione swallowed hard, folded up the piece of paper and placed it in a box under her kitchen sink, where she had been keeping all the notes she received. She couldn’t bring them to the Ministry, they would take his intimidation tactics seriously and pull her away from the case. She couldn’t have that. She had worked too hard and she’d be damned if she didn’t put every single Death Eater into Azkaban. Besides, they’d be doing exactly what he wanted.

But now it was personal, and she needed to re-double her efforts to find him. In his second note to her, he had applauded her _genius idea_ to become lead auror in his investigation, thus keeping anyone from actually catching him. In the third he said he knew she was the reason why he had walked away free all those years ago, he just knew she had _somehow_ gotten involved. In the fourth note he said he would make her disappearance seem believable, that she had nothing to worry about. That’s when she knew for certain he was threatening her. But with this last note… what exactly was he saying? He had wanted to take _her_ with him? That really didn’t make any sense.

In a spur of the moment decision she made up her mind to take the fight to him instead. She had done nothing for too long and she wasn’t letting him get any closer to her. Hermione placed a tracking spell on the owl - she had quickly learned to close them in after opening the window - and soon found out which city it came from this time. She grabbed her beaded bag she kept packed in case of emergencies and quickly scribbled a note that she left on her kitchen table in case someone came looking for her while she was away: _Gone to Australia to visit my parents. Not sure how long I will stay._

When Hermione reached the small town the tracking spell led her to, she couldn’t believe her luck. Not only was it small, it was almost deserted. If he was here, she would find him. She roamed around for a few hours but when she thought she saw a flash of silver hair she didn’t hesitate. She followed after him quietly when he seemed to be going into an old rundown building. Must be a repelling charm, she thought brightly, undeterred.

She walked into the building, and as she thought, it wasn’t old or rundown at all. It seemed to be a small but cozy house, with a fire lit up and flowers in a vase on the table, not at all what she would’ve expected. She wandered inside trying to spot him again. When she heard the door close behind her she turned around sharply, wand aiming at the man she had been chasing for the past five years.

“Malfoy,” she spit out, voice angry. “You’re under arrest.”

Malfoy laughed a soft and carefree laugh, and the sound was odd. Had she ever heard him laugh like that before? “It’s okay love, it’s just us here. You can drop the pretenses,” he said, taking a step towards her.

She cast a binding charm at him. Only, nothing happened.

“Magic won’t work here love.” He said, stepping towards her again. “I had to make sure that we couldn’t be tracked down now that you’ve found me.”

Panic flashed through Hermione’s eyes and she attempted to cast a few more charms unsuccessfully. 

“It’s alright,” Draco shushed, hands out seeming to want to calm her. “We’ll make due. We have everything we need here, and I can get us anything else you would want. You won’t ever need to step outside,” he chuckled then. “Not that there’s anything or anyone in this city to see anyway, I made sure of that.” He flashed her a malicious grin and she couldn’t hold in her panic anymore.

“What the hell is going on Malfoy?” she asked frantically, searching the place, trying to find a way out.

“Don’t you see love? It’s finally just you and me, like we’ve always wanted.” The honesty in his voice and on his face scared her more than anything else that had happened in the few short minutes after her arrival.

Hermione started backing away when he stalked towards her again. “This isn’t funny Malfoy,” she said.

He stopped then, hurt coloring his tone “Aren’t you happy to see me, love?”

“You- you’re- you’re crazy,” she stuttered, backing away more.

He laughed again, louder this time, seeming to think what she said was funny “I’ve been out of my mind waiting for you all these years. But then again, you also waited for me, so that makes you crazy too. That’s why we’ve always been perfect for eachother, isn’t it?”

Hermione spinned around to upturn the table she had just hit her back into, obstructing his path and making a run for the door. When she got to it, it wouldn’t open. She banged on it and screamed, and when she felt a body behind her she stilled completely.

“You’re beautiful when you’re mad,” he lifted a hand to her cheek and she flinched. “You’re even beautiful when you cry,” he whispered reverently. She hadn’t even realized she had been crying. The hand on her cheek was drying her tears when he whispered “I love all of you.”

Hermione turned to face him, fear gone and angered replacing it. “I will get out of here Malfoy, and when I do, I will end you,” she hissed fiercely.

Malfoy chuckled softly, bringing both his hand to cup her face, a small smile in place “You’re never leaving here love. I told you, we will never be apart again.” He withdrew his hands and walked away from her, righting the table she had upturned. He looked back at her, extending a hand, and said smiling “Come, let me show you our home.”

-

She fought him at every turn. She never stopped trying to escape. It had been three months and she religiously tried the doors that she knew wouldn’t open. Religiously tried to use her wand that she knew wouldn’t work and tried to steal his that she knew she couldn’t touch. His passivity rattled her. He would never fight back, never raise his voice when she raised hers. He’d look at her with sad, longing eyes and it made her _furious_. 

“I just want you to be happy”, he’d say. And she reminded him everyday that he kept her away from everything that brought her any happiness: her family and friends, her magic, her _freedom._

-

She awoke one morning before him, which was a rare occurrence. He was usually up no matter how early she woke up, making her tea and preparing her breakfast, putting on a small smile for her that she knew had to be fake. He had no more reason to be happy than she did. She got up and performed her usual routine. Door - still locked, wand - still not-. She stopped abruptly, there was light coming out of her wand. She shook her head as if hallucinating and tried again. There was the light again and she didn't hesitate, she apparated out of there as quickly as she could.

-

It took a few weeks but things were finally starting to go back to normal. Her friends had apparently started searching for her after Hermione’s parents had shown up in London claiming not to have seen her since Christmas. The investigation had become a media sensation and there was no shortage of press upon her return. Not to mention the fact that she was in and out of court since the investigation for her kidnapping and Draco’s death was still underway. 

They had found Draco Malfoy dead when they raided the location she indicated. Cause unknown. She had been shocked and frankly more affected than she would’ve expected. She couldn’t explain the loss, the emptiness. Couldn’t explain why she saw his sad eyes and sad smile every time she closed her eyes. Somehow, she had expected to see him again. Felt it was inevitable really that they would find their way to each other again. 

Stockhold syndrome, they would tell her. _After all, he had you locked up for three months._

-

The aurors brought in anything they could find from the house as evidence for the investigation. She was going through the stack of books that had been at the house when she spotted a piece of paper poking out of one of the pages. Her heart stopped, she was very familiar with his notes and she just knew it was another one. She knew she should bring it to the aurors assigned to her case, but she felt oddly possessive of it. It was tucked into one of her favorite titles after all, something she knew _he_ somehow knew.

_Hermione,_

_If you are reading this letter, you have succeeded in getting me a life sentence in Azkaban. That or someone has finally managed to kill me, though I highly doubt I would let that happen before seeing you again. Either way, I have failed you, and we didn’t get the happy ending I promised you all those years ago._

_Part of me fears that you might no longer want... us. Or maybe you no longer remember us, at least not in the way that I do. I waited for you that day, you know? I waited for you every year on the anniversary of the war but you never came, and I never understood why. My heart tells me those bastards took you from me, or more accurately, took_ me _from your memories. If that is what happened, I selfishly wish for you to remember._

_I’ve left my favorite memories of us in this flask, though, I couldn’t possibly extract them all. The day you found me crying in the girl’s bathroom; the day you finally convinced me to go to Dumbledore for help; the day we spent in the Room of Requirement learning each other for the first time, with words and hands and tongues. I wish I could bottle all the glances and whispers and secret notes, how your skin felt under my fingertips, how your breath shook the first time I told you I loved you._

_I’ve loved you every day since. And I know you have too - they might’ve taken me from your mind but they could never take me from your heart. I see it in the way you never stopped trying to find me, and in the way you never left London where I could find you too._

_I will never quit trying to get back to you Hermione. Until death tears us apart, maybe even then._

_Yours,_

_Draco_

She felt a single tear roll down her face. She didn’t need to see the memories he had extracted and stored somewhere for her to find. Somehow she knew. She knew in the way she had hated him for so long, then searched for him for so long, then fought him for so long. She knew in the way she never gave up on him, and now she knew he had never given up on her either. She knew in the way there was a hole in her chest she felt would never heal.

But still, she didn’t remember this love he spoke of - she only remembered the hate, the hurt, the tears. It seemed no one but him remembered the love. She wished it had died with him, wished he had never burdened her with it. She was sobbing openly now. She didn’t want it, she didn’t want the love or the pain that came along with it. But her world would always revolve around him, she realized. It did even before she knew what he had once meant to her. Every step she had taken in as far as she could remember had been to bring her closer to him.

He had promised to never leave her again and she had promised to never stop chasing after him. But he had gone somewhere she couldn't follow. Still, she couldn’t escape him, she realized. He would always haunt her. His love would burden her for as long as she lived, until she followed him into the dark.


End file.
